Hi friends! I am so sorry for the late post and especially sorry to those of you who normally read this on Monday mornings. I normally try to schedule my posts so that they go live by 6am but that doesn’t always happen and sometimes the beach happens 🙂

2- Barriers Today for Women – Excellent and unbiased article from NPR about barriers to success for women today that aren’t as obvious or visible as previous generation’s barriers to women

First, much of today’s bias is implicit, not explicit. Women are much less likely to be told that they don’t belong in the lab, and people may be less likely to believe that they don’t. But both men and women are influenced by implicit biases — stereotypes and associations that can subtly and unconsciously influence their decisions and evaluations regarding others and themselves. For instance, one recent study found that both male and female participants were twice as likely to select a man over a woman to complete a mathematical task, even when they had no evidence that the man would perform the task better.

This is one of my favorite months and I always enjoy Valentine’s Day, even though I’ve usually been single over the years, haha! I am immensely blessed to be sharing another Valentine’s Day this year with a sweet pup and an even sweeter boyfriend.

I have really enjoyed putting together my monthly “bucket lists,” it has been such a fun activity and a breeze to check off the items on the list each month! I really think that as you get older and you begin to have more serious romantic relationships, adopt or purchase a pet, begin working full-time, etc. that time just seems to fly by…. these monthly bucket lists are a way to ensure that I am really “soaking” up life and pushing myself to enjoy the down time I have.

(On a side note, I am definitely cheating with Number 9 on this list, Jordan and I are going to a restaurant called Babylon in Downtown Raleigh for Valentine’s Day… ;-))

I am particularly excited for the Chocolate and Wine Tasting I am hosting at my house for the girls in my life!

My bucket list posts are quickly becoming some of my favorite posts to write. In December (December Bucket List), I wrote my first list and I was able to accomplish about half of what was on it despite the craziness of the holiday season!

I like the idea of a “mini” bucket list because the items on the list are tangible, easily understood activities that are realistic to complete in a month’s time.

These are posts are completely separate from my original Goals for 2016 those goals are long-term and ongoing… not to mention personal intentions and life milestones I hope to achieve.

Is there anything that you plan on doing to start the year off on the right foot? Do you have any activities you must do this winter?